Harness and snowshoe frame

ABSTRACT

A harness for an item of footwear comprises a foot interface adapted to receive an underside of the item of footwear thereon. Two lateral straps each have opposed ends connected to the foot interface, and each form a continuous hoop between the opposed ends for a portion of the item of footwear to be received in the continuous hoops on the foot interface. Each of the lateral straps has a longitudinal degree of expansion and contraction to increase or reduce a size of the respective continuous hoop. A cable route is on the lateral straps, the cable route having cable housings and/or cable channels. A cable is routed in the at least one cable route. A closure device pulls on the cable to reduce the size of the continuous hoops in the degree of contraction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/082,290. Filed on Nov. 20, 2014 and incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present application relates to snowshoes, and to a constructionthereof, as well as to a harness used in snow sport equipment such assnowshoes and snowboards.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Snowshoes are commonly used to walk on snow, especially for recreationalpurposes. Snowshoes come in different configurations, as a function ofthe physical activity performed with the snowshoes. In order to enhancetheir performance, snowshoes must be as light as possible. Indeed,snowshoes operate under the principle of flotation on snow, wherebytheir weight is a design factor.

Moreover, sports equipment such as snowshoes and snowboards featuring aharness to which one attaches a boot are not always practical in thatsome time is required to attach one's boot into the harness. It would bedesirable to develop harnesses that facilitate fastening while notaffecting the performance of the sports equipment it is a part of.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

It is therefore an aim of the present disclosure to provide a snowshoethat addresses issues related with the prior art.

It is a further aim of the present disclosure to provide a harness thataddresses issues related with the prior art.

Therefore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present application,there is provided a harness for an item of footwear comprising: a footinterface adapted to receive an underside of the item of footwearthereon; at least two lateral straps each having opposed ends connectedto the foot interface, and each forming a continuous hoop between theopposed ends for a portion of the item of footwear to be received in thecontinuous hoops on the foot interface, each of the at least two lateralstraps having a longitudinal degree of expansion and contraction toincrease or reduce a size of the respective continuous hoop; at leastone cable route on the at least two lateral straps, the cable routehaving at least one of cable housings and cable channels; at least onecable routed in the at least one cable route; and at least one closuredevice to pull on the at least one cable to reduce the size of thecontinuous hoops in the degree of contraction.

Further in accordance with the embodiment, there is provided a snowshoecomprising: a frame defining a periphery of the snowshoe, a deckdefining with the frame a footprint of the snowshoe, and a foot openingin the deck; and a binding comprising the harness described above, thebinding pivotally connected to the frame or deck; whereby a front end ofthe binding is displaceable into the foot opening below a footprint ofthe snowshoe.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, thereis provided a snowshoe comprising: a frame having at least a tubularmember defining a periphery of the snowshoe, the tubular member having atop surface portion of a given width; a deck having a portion of itsperiphery aligned with and covering at least a portion of the topsurface portion of the tubular member over the given width; an adhesivebetween the top surface portion and the deck to secure the deck to theframe; and a binding operatively connected to at least one of the frameand the deck and adapted to be connected to footwear of a wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a snowshoe of the present disclosure, asused with a boot;

FIG. 2 is an underside view of the snowshoe of FIG. 1, showing a crossframe member;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a harness of the snowshoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the snowshoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an underside view showing a base of the harness of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional schematic view of a deck and frame of the snowshoeof FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, a snowshoe inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure is generally shownat 10 (a.k.a., snow shoe, raquette, etc), as used by a user wearing bootA. The snowshoe 10 is conventionally used as part of a pair ofsnowshoes. The snowshoe 10 of the figures may be a left-side orright-side snowshoe, with or without shape variations between left sideor right side. Typically, the snowshoes 10 for left and right side aremirror images of one another, with a harness being oriented as afunction of the side of the snowshoe 10. Moreover, the overall shape ofthe snowshoe 10 may vary as a function of the side. The followingdescription 10 applies to both right-side and left-side snowshoes,unless stated otherwise.

The snowshoe 10 may have a peripheral frame 20, a deck 30, a binding 40including a harness 50, and a heel cleat unit (not shown).

The peripheral frame 20 forms the structure of the snowshoe 10, anddelimits its footprint. The frame 20 is typically made of ametal/alloys, such as aluminum, titanium, steel, etc, or of compositematerials.

The deck 30 defines the majority of the footprint surface of thesnowshoe 10, and is hence responsible for spreading the weight of theuser, i.e., the deck 30 achieves the flotation effect. The deck 30 maybe secured directly to the peripheral frame 20 in a stretched state, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure describedhereinafter. The deck 30 is made of any suitable panel material, such astextiles, polymers, tarps, woven, non-woven, to name but a few, withproperties such as puncture resistance, tear resistance, etc.Alternatively, the frame 20 and deck 30 may form one integral panel,instead of being separate interconnected components.

The binding 40 is the interface between the boot A or shoe of the wearer(hereinafter boot for simplicity), and the snowshoe 10. Moreover, thebinding 40 allows a hinging movement of the boot for instance by way ofan elastic band connecting the binding 40 to the frame 20 and/or deck30, by which the front portion of the binding 40 plunges below afootprint of the frame 20 and deck 30.

The harness 50 is part of the binding 40 (although likely removable froma remainder of the binding 40) that is designed to releasably secure theboot A to the binding 40 and hence to the snowshoe 10.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the peripheral frame 20 is shown having atear-drop like shape, which shape is disclosed as a non-limitativeexample, as various other shapes are considered. Likewise, the noseand/or tail of the frame 20 may raise slightly upwards as in FIGS. 1 and2, or may adopt other configurations, such a generally flat geometry,etc. As observed in FIG. 2, cross frame members 21 (one of which isshown) may extend from one side of the frame 20 to another, spanningacross the full width of the snowshoe 10. The cross frame member 21 atthe front is used as structural support upon which the bonding 40 andharness 50 are connected (e.g., with a hinge). A rear cross frame member21 may also be provided, for instance to support a heel raisingmechanism. According to an embodiment, the cross frame member 21 isglued to the peripheral frame 20. A suitable adhesive for such a purposeis Loctite® H8000™ provided for exemplary purposes, although numerousother adhesives are considered.

In an embodiment, the peripheral frame 20 is a tubular frame, in that itis made of a hollow tube (i.e., frame defined by a tube extendinglengthwise along the periphery of the snowshoe 10), and could be open asopposed to closed. It is also considered to have a solid frame 20 asopposed to a tubular frame, provided the weight of the solid frame 20 isnot excessive by an appropriate section of materials.

By way of the arrangement of FIG. 6, the frame 20 has a generally flattop support surface 22 of a given width, for a tapered bottom 23 (i.e.,the downwardly-facing apex). The frame 20 may have traction components24 at its bottom (as in FIG. 1), to provide additional traction overflat or circular frames. The tapered bottom 23 is one among otherpossible configurations, other arrangements including a serrated bottomsurface, an abrasive coating on the bottom surface, etc. The tractioncomponents 24 may be known as teeth, studs, spikes, cleats, nails, etc.The traction components may be glued to the frame 20 using appropriateadhesives such as Loctite® H8000™.

Hence, the deck 30 may be secured directly to the frame 20, as thesupport surface 22 of the frame 20 defines sufficient space in the givenwidth for an adhesive to anchor the deck 30 directly against the frame20, i.e., without additional mechanical fasteners, interfacing brackets,or without loops of excessive deck material surrounding the frame 20.For instance, an adhesive that is well suited is Loctite® H8000™provided for exemplary purposes, although numerous other adhesives areconsidered. By the downwardly-facing apex, the tapered bottom 23 mayprovide additional purchase to the frame 20 compared with flatter bottomshapes of prior art frames. A triangular-like section is well suited toprovide addition purchase and to form appropriate support for the deckin the direct connection with the adhesive, but other sectional shapesare considered. For instance, square, trapezoid, oval and/or roundedshapes could achieve suitable results as well.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the deck 30 is shown having a geometrysubstantially similar to that of the peripheral frame 20, as a result ofthe direct interconnection of the deck 30 to the frame 20, as describedabove. The deck 30 has a cutout 32, which cutout 32 allows the front ofthe boot to plunge below the plane of the deck 30, in a typicalwalking/running motion. The binding 40 is secured to the snowshoe 10 inregister with the cutout 32. The binding 40 has pivots 41, by which baseplate 43 is pivotally connected to the cross frame member 21. The baseplate 43 is made of a rigid material, such as a metal. As observed inFIG. 2, cleats 44 (i.e., crampons, teeth) project downwardly from thebase plate 43, and the cleats 44 provide purchase to the forefoot regionof the boot sole when the snowshoe 10 is worn, as the base plate 43 andcleats 44 are opposite the cutout 32, and the cleats 44 may thus pivotbelow the plane of the deck 30 to provide purchase to user A using thesnowshoe 10. In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the baseplate 43 and cleats 44 are a monolithic piece of bent and machined metalstock, although other configurations are considered, such as moldedmetal, composites, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the harness 50 is shown in greater detail.The harness 50 has a foot interface 51. The foot interface 51 is theportion of the harness 50 upon which at a part of the underface of thesole of the boot A will lie when the boot A is strapped to the harness50. The foot interface 51 is connected to the base plate 43 of thebinding 40 so as to be pivotable relative to the frame 20 and deck 30.

The foot interface 51 may be in the form of a plate have a base layer orplate 51A upon which a traction layer or plate 51B is over-molded orfixated face-to-face on the base layer 51A, to concurrently define thefoot interface 51. Alternatively, the foot interface 51 may have aunitary construction (e.g., be one monolithic piece). Otherconfigurations for the foot interface 51 include tubular frame members,etc. Concurrently, the base layer 51A and the traction layer 51B form arelatively flat assembly of relatively small thickness. The base layer51A may be the more rigid of the two layers to provide the structuralintegrity of the foot interface 51.

The harness 50 further comprises a rear lateral strap 52 and may alsocomprise a front lateral strap 53. The lateral straps 52 and 53 areprovided to wrap around the upper portion of the boot so as to tie downthe boot A to the foot interface 51. Stated differently, the lateralstraps 52 and 53 form continuous hoops in which a user's boot may beinserted. For this reason, the circumference of the rear lateral strap52 and front lateral strap 53 can be decreased or increased to tightenor loosen the harness 50 and allow insertion or removal of the boot Afrom the harness 50. The expression “lateral” is used as it reflects thelateral positioning of the straps 52 and 53 relative to the humananatomy (they are generally parallel to a latero-lateral direction).Another expression that could be used for the straps 52 and 53 istransverse straps or hoops, in that the straps 52 and 53 aretransversely positioned relative to a length of the foot.

The rear lateral strap 52 comprises a pair of base strap portions 52A.In an embodiment, the base strap portions 52A are integral with thetraction layer 51B of the foot interface 51, although the base strapportions 52A may be pivotally connected to the foot interface 51 aswell. The base strap portions 52A project laterally from the footinterface 51. The rear lateral strap 52 further comprises an upper orcentral strap portion 52B connected at opposite ends to the base strapportions 52A, thereby forming a continuous hoop with the foot interface51. The lateral strap 52 is said to be continuous in that there is nogap between any of the portions 52A and 52B. As observed, the upperstrap portion 52B is in telescopic arrangement with the base strapportions 52A in such a way that the upper strap portion 52B is insliding relation with the base strap portions 52A, i.e., a sliding jointproviding one degree of translation (or degree of contraction andexpansion) is allowed between the upper strap portion 52B and the basestrap portions 52A. One configuration considered to allow thistranslation is to have a channel and end bridge defined in the basestrap portions 52A as shown in FIG. 3, and an enlarged head at oppositeends of the upper strap portion 52B to delimit and end movement betweenthe upper strap portion 52B and the base strap portions 52A, by contactbetween the enlarged head and end bridge. Other arrangements arecontemplated, such as telescopic tubes, etc. The rear lateral strap 52has a guide channel 52C in the upper strap portion 52B, the guidechannel 52C formed by a U-bracket or by any other similar formation. Itis also contemplated to form the lateral strap 52 with a pair of strapportions as opposed to the three strap portions described above.

The front lateral strap 53 has a similar configuration, with a pair ofbase strap portions 53A and an upper strap portion 53B (or two, four ormore of the strap portions overall), whereby the description providedabove for the rear lateral strap 52 applies to the front lateral strap53, especially regarding the translation. The front lateral strap 53 hasa guide channel 53C in the upper strap portion 53B, the guide channel53C formed by a U-bracket or by any other similar formation.

A longitudinal strap 54 projects from a front end of the foot interface51 and, like the base strap portions 52A and 53A, may be integral withthe traction layer 51B of the foot interface 51. The longitudinal strap54 has an elongated body that then curves rearwardly to pass through theguide channels 53C and 52C of the lateral straps 53 and 52. Teeth 54A(a.k.a., gear rack, serrations, etc) are defined on a top surface of thelongitudinal strap 54, and are positioned opposite the guide channel 52Cof the rear lateral strap 52. The teeth 54A are of the type found incable ties or tie wraps, to provide a ratchet-type unidirectionalmovement of the longitudinal strap 54. A free end of the longitudinalstrap 54 may define a handle 54B rear of the lateral strap 52, for theuser to exert a pulling action on the longitudinal strap 54.

Accordingly, by way of the guide channels 52C and 53C, the longitudinalstrap 54 may translate relative to the lateral straps 52 and 53, i.e.,along its longitudinal dimension, in a transverse direction relative tothese lateral straps 52 and 53. Moreover, the straps 52 and 53 aretightened, the longitudinal strap 54 may be limited to translationalmovement in a front-to-rear direction because of the teeth 54A thereon.Stated differently, the tightening caused by the cable 58 may result inthe lateral strap 53 and longitudinal strap 54 sufficiently pressedagainst one another for the teeth 54A to be blocked from moving. Thismay entail the presence of an abutment on an underside of the centralstrap portion 52B, in the guide channel 52C.

Still referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, pivots 55 are provided on tabsprojecting rearwardly from the base strap portions 52A. The pivots 55are provided for the pivoting connection of a heel strap 56 to the rearlateral strap 52. The heel strap 56 may be provided with sizeadjustment, for instance by way of buckle, tongue and hole assembly ascommonly found in watch straps or by way of any other suitablemechanism, such as complementary Velcro™ patches The heel strap 56 wrapsaround the heel portion of the user's boot A when the harness 50 istightened.

A closure dial 57 is provided on top of the upper strap portion 52B.According to an embodiment, the closure dial 57 is part of a Boa™closure system. Other closure systems or closure devices are usable aswell, as will be described hereinafter. In the case of the use of a Boa™closure system, the closure dial 57 is a ratchet wheel that rotated toinduce a pulling action on opposite ends of cable 58. As cable 58 isattached at opposite ends to the closure dial 57, it forms a closedfigure, whereby the pulling action on its end with shorten the size ofthe hoop, and this feature is used to tighten the harness 50 upon theboot A.

More specifically, cable 58 passes through a cable route that mayconsist of a plurality of cable housings 59A provided in the upper strapportions 52B and 53B of the lateral straps 52 and 53, respectively.Moreover, cable housings 59 may also be part of the base strap portions52A and 53A, as observed in FIG. 3. The cable housings 59A in the basestrap portions 52A and 53A communicate with cable channels 59B, as bestshown in FIG. 5, in the foot interface 51.

Cable channels 59B route the cable 58 from the cable housings 59A in thebase strap portions 52A to the housings 59A of the base strap portions53A. Accordingly, in the illustrated embodiment, a single cable 58travels from the closure dial 57 down one of the housings 59A of theupper strap portion 52B through the housing 59A of one of the base strapportions 52A, through one of the channels 59B, into all housingssurrounding the front lateral strap 53, back through another of thechannels 59B in the foot interface 51, and through the housing 59A ofthe other base strap portion 52A. The end of the cable 58 then reachesthe closure dial 57 through the housing 59A on the other side of theupper strap portion 52B. A rotation of the closure dial 57 will resultin a pulling action on both ends of the cable 58, thereby bringing theupper strap portions 52B and 53B in a tightened position with theirrelated base strap portions 52A and 53A. As per the configuration of aBoa™ closure system, upon raising the closure dial 57, the tension inthe cable 58 is released, thereby allowing the loosening of the lateralstraps 52 and 53 by a simple movement of one's boot A in the harness 50.

Advantageously, the cable route for the cable 58 as described aboveallows the use of a single closure system (and single closure dial 57)to close the two lateral straps. Hence, there results a simplertightening of the harness 50 over two or more distinct closure systems,i.e., one per lateral strap, although two separate closure systems couldbe used as well, one for each strap. It is however contemplated to useother closure mechanisms, such as a rack and pinion assembly as analternative to the closure dial 57. A rack and pinion assembly, with atwo-direction closure system, could be used to pull/release a cable(such as cable 58) in a similar fashion to the Boa™ closure system.Hence, there are alternatives to the Boa™ closure system. Moreover,although a single cable 58 is shown and described, a pair of cables 58could be used, each of these cables 58 having an end in the closure dial57, and another end secured to the lower strap portions 53A or to thefoot interface 51, to pull on the upper strap portion 53B. It isobserved that the continuous nature of the hoops formed by the lateralstraps 52 and 53 prevents direct contact between the boot and thecable(s) 58. The degree of contraction and expansion as described aboveis configured to provide enough play between strap portions of eachstrap 52/53 to prevent contact of the cable 58 with the boot.

As mentioned above, the closure dial 57 has an up and down movement in adirection parallel to its rotational axis, to engage or release themechanism of the closure dial 57 to the cable 58. When the closure dial57 is up, the cable 58 is free to be loosened, whereas when the closuredial 57 is down, the cable 58 is tied to the closure dial 57 such that arotation of the closure dual 57 results in the pulling action.

When the closure dial 57 is raised to its releasing position, thelongitudinal strap 54 may be used to help loosening the straps 52 and53. Indeed, as the longitudinal strap 54 is transversely positionedrelative to the straps 52 and 53 and under same (in guide channels 52Cand 53C), the user A may simply pull on the handle 54B to expand thelateral straps 52 and 53.

It is pointed out that the harness 50 may be used with other equipment.For example, the harness 50 may have some of its parts used for asnowboard binding. For example, the telescopic lateral straps 52 and 53,and closure system with dial 57, cable 58 and housings 59A/channels 59Bcould form part of a snowboard biding.

1. A harness for an item of footwear comprising: a foot interfaceadapted to receive an underside of the item of footwear thereon; atleast two lateral straps each having opposed ends connected to the footinterface, and each forming a continuous hoop between the opposed endsfor a portion of the item of footwear to be received in the continuoushoops on the foot interface, each of the at least two lateral strapshaving a longitudinal degree of expansion and contraction to increase orreduce a size of the respective continuous hoop; at least one cableroute on the at least two lateral straps, the cable route having atleast one of cable housings and cable channels; at least one cablerouted in the at least one cable route; and at least one closure deviceto pull on the at least one cable to reduce the size of the continuoushoops in the degree of contraction.
 2. The harness according to claim 1,wherein each said lateral strap is constituted of at least two strapsegments forming therebetween a sliding joint.
 3. The harness accordingto claim 1, wherein each said lateral strap has three strap segmentswith the sliding joints between adjacent one of the strap segments, theat least one closure device being located on a central one of the strapsegments.
 4. The harness according to claim 1, further comprising asingle one of the closure device and of the cable, the closure deviceadapted to pull on the cable to contract the at least two lateral strapsconcurrently.
 5. The harness according to claim 4, wherein the cableroute comprises at least one of the cable housings and the cablechannels in the foot interface.
 6. The harness according to claim 5,wherein the foot interface is formed of two layers, the layers beingsecured face-to-face to one another to form the cable channelstherebetween.
 7. The harness according to claim 1, wherein the closuredevice is a ratchet wheel, opposed ends of the cable being connected tothe ratchet wheel for being wound about the ratchet wheel during apulling action.
 8. The harness according to claim 1, further comprisinga longitudinal strap projecting from a front of the foot interface andpassing through guides in the at least two lateral straps, thelongitudinal strap being transversely oriented relative to the at leasttwo lateral straps and displaceable along its longitudinal dimension. 9.The harness according to claim 8, further comprising teeth on thelongitudinal strap cooperating with an abutment in at least one of saidguides to block movement of the longitudinal strap in the longitudinaldimension.
 10. The harness according to claim 9, further comprising ahandle at a free end of the longitudinal strap.
 11. The harnessaccording to claim 1, further comprising a heel strap having opposedends connected to one of the at least two lateral straps, a length ofthe heel strap being adjustable.
 12. A snowshoe comprising: a framedefining a periphery of the snowshoe, a deck defining with the frame afootprint of the snowshoe, and a foot opening in the deck; and a bindingcomprising the harness according to claim 1, the binding pivotallyconnected to the frame or deck; whereby a front end of the binding isdisplaceable into the foot opening below a footprint of the snowshoe.13. The snowshoe according to claim 12, wherein the frame has at least atubular member defining a periphery of the snowshoe, the tubular memberhaving a top surface portion of a given width, the a deck having aportion of its periphery aligned with and covering at least a portion ofthe top surface portion of the tubular member over the given width, andfurther comprising an adhesive between the top surface portion and thedeck to secure the deck to the frame.
 14. The snowshoe according toclaim 12, wherein each said lateral strap in the harness is constitutedof at least two strap segments forming therebetween a sliding joint. 15.The snowshoe according to claim 14, wherein each said lateral strap hasthree strap segments with the sliding joints between adjacent one of thestrap segments, the at least one closure device being located on acentral one of the strap segments.
 16. The snowshoe according to claim12, further comprising a single one of the closure device and of thecable, the closure device adapted to pull on the cable to contract theat least two lateral straps concurrently.
 17. The snowshoe according toclaim 12, further comprising a longitudinal strap projecting from afront of the foot interface of the harness and passing through guides inthe at least two lateral straps, the longitudinal strap beingtransversely oriented relative to the at least two lateral straps anddisplaceable along its longitudinal dimension.
 18. The snowshoeaccording to claim 17, further comprising teeth on the longitudinalstrap cooperating with an abutment in at least one of said guides toblock movement of the longitudinal strap in the longitudinal dimension.19. A snowshoe comprising: a frame having at least a tubular memberdefining a periphery of the snowshoe, the tubular member having a topsurface portion of a given width; a deck having a portion of itsperiphery aligned with and covering at least a portion of the topsurface portion of the tubular member over the given width; an adhesivebetween the top surface portion and the deck to secure the deck to theframe; and a binding operatively connected to at least one of the frameand the deck and adapted to be connected to footwear of a wearer. 20.The snowshoe according to claim 19, wherein the tubular member has agenerally triangular section, with the deck being adhered to a side ofthe triangular section, and an apex of the triangular section pointingdownwardly.